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The Week That Was: The Big Stories in Indian Country, June 30, 2013

ICTMN Staff

6/30/13

It's our weekly roundup of the stories that mattered most in Indian country:

On June 23, actor Wes Studi, Cherokee, famous for his work in such films as The Last of the Mohicans and Avatar, was given the Distinguished Artist Award at the Tulsa Awards for Theater Excellence (TATE).

Leaders of the Oglala Lakota Nation declared June 26 Leonard Peltier Day in honor of the American Indian Movement activist who has been in prison for 36 years, convicted of murdering two FBI agents in a trial that leading social justice organizations say was unfair and tainted by political influence.

Just days after the anniversary of the Battle of the Greasy Grass, also known as the Battle of the Little Bighorn, Minor League Baseball's Hagerstown, Maryland Suns announced it would be giving away George Armstrong Custer bobbleheads to the first 1,000 fans through the gates.

A draft proposal of far-reaching revisions to the Interior Department’s process for federal acknowledgment of Indian tribes is being hailed as the best thing to happen in decades to a system that’s been described as “broken, long, expensive, burdensome, intrusive, unfair, arbitrary and capricious, less than transparent, unpredictable, and subject to undue political influence and manipulation.”

Following the Executive Order by President Barack Obama on June 26 establishing the White House Council on Native American Affairs, Congressman Tom Cole (R-OK) and Congresswoman Betty McCollum (D-MN), co-chairs of the Congressional Native American Caucus applauded the announcement with a joint statement.

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